A Length of Zanshi ori: Leftover Yarn Weaving
early twentieth century
56 1/2" x 13", 143.5 cm x 33 cm
Zanshi ori is cloth that is woven from threads either leftover from home production of yarn making, or from broken threads that were purchased from local commercial weavers.
Usually the weft is fed with these random threads while generally the warp is regulated producing an irregular horizontal 'striping'; if home threads are used, knotted slubs can often be seen.
In this case we see a beautifully complex design of warp-based, narrow stripes in subtle tones that forms a lovely field or background for the play of many white flecks from the leftover kasuri yarns that were used to feed to weft of this length.
The slight interruption to the bold, vertical striping by these flecks of white is a beautiful contrast to the fixed nature of the striping.
There are few snags/holes to the length and an example is shown on the detail photos here.
This is a handsome length of cotton zanshi ori.